IS1 The Devil is a Woman
by Denise Felt
Summary: When Commander Straker is found catatonic in his home, an alien plot is suspected.


**The Devil is a Woman**

**(A UFO Story)**

by Denise Felt 2010

**Chapter 1**

They swiftly wheeled the gurney into the Emergency Room, past the beds full of bleeding, crying, screaming patients; past the overworked, overstressed, overtired doctors; and on into the small room at the other end.

The one with the door that locked.

Almost before anyone could draw breath to ask the first question, a small wiry doctor with eyes too large for his face came scurrying down the room in their wake, manila folders clutched tightly in one bony hand. He glanced neither left nor right, so he did not notice the many stares he was getting from the other patients as he quickly headed for that locked room. He brushed his card pass alongside the door with a fluidity that spoke of regular use, then disappeared into the small room where whoever was on that gurney awaited him.

After a moment of stunned silence, the noise level in the Emergency Room resumed its normal chaotic volume.

"What can you tell me, Colonel?"

Virginia's hands were still shaking, and they felt like ice as she clutched them tightly in her lap. Her grey eyes seemed lost somehow as she tried to focus on the doctor and what he was asking. "I don't know," she said finally. "We were supposed to go out to the opera. Dinner first, of course. We thought about having a late dinner afterward, since we both were scheduled to work late this afternoon, but it's Wagner, so we'd be dying of starvation before we ever got the chance to eat. So I raced home to change, then came over to the house to pick him up. Only he didn't answer the door. I thought at first that he'd been held up with a call or something, so I came in, thinking he might be in the shower and just running behind."

Her voice faltered for a moment as she relived it. Then she shook her head to clear it and met the doctor's eyes. "He was on the floor. Just lying there staring at me. I couldn't get him to respond. He just stared!" And with that, her hands came up to cover her face as she sobbed.

Dr. Jackson ran a weary hand across his eyes. His hair seemed to have greyed some since the time he'd been called into the hospital for this crisis, and his face looked noticeably more lined. He glanced at the clock on the wall, but could barely remember when he had come in, so found it impossible to calculate how long he'd been struggling to stabilize his most important patient.

"Any convulsions? Twitching? Spasmodic movements of any kind?"

She shook her head, trying to compose herself. She needed to be able to answer his questions. It was the only thing she could do now for the man she loved. "No."

The doctor made a few notes on his clipboard.

"Please," she said after a few minutes had gone by. "When can I see him?"

"It's too soon to say, Colonel," Dr. Jackson said, his thin hands gesturing in the Slavic way he had. "We may know more by morning. I have tests running that may give us some answers concerning what has occurred."

"Was it an attack?" she asked worriedly.

He shrugged. "It's too soon to tell. Col. Freeman has a team at the house now, going over everything carefully for any evidence of alien involvement. I expect him to get back with me as soon as he knows one way or the other." He leaned forward and laid a hand over hers. "You should go on home and try to get some sleep. I can give you something to help, if necessary. He may be well enough to have visitors tomorrow, and you'll want to be rested."

"Of course. Thank you, Doctor. You're right. I should sleep." She got up and left the office in a daze, forgetting to pick up the sleeping pills he had for her.

Col. Freeman strode over as she got out of her car. "God damn it, Ginny! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Alec! Don't yell at me," she said. "I want to help."

He ran a hand through his thick hair. "There's nothing you can do here but get in the way. Why aren't you at the hospital?"

"They won't let me see him yet. They're still running tests. Dr. Jackson sent me home, but I couldn't sleep. Have you found out anything yet? Could it have been an alien attack?"

"Hell if I know!" he said with a weary shrug. "If it was, they managed to do it without entering his house. We found no forced entry, and nothing inside seems to have been disturbed."

"Could they have done it remotely?" she asked, looking at the roof and outside walls of the ranch style home, her scientific mind intrigued in spite of herself.

"It's possible. You never know what they're capable of doing. Hell, it's only because Ed's so quick that we've been able to keep up with them as long as we have! How do you get ahead of a technologically advanced foe? And what the hell will we do now if they've finally managed to kill him?"

"Don't say that, Alec!" she cried. "Don't!"

He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed. "Sorry. I didn't mean it, Ginny. It's just so damned frustrating trying to figure this whole mess out! I'd rather be at the hospital myself! Think I want to be here looking for god-knows-what kind of evidence when Ed's there fighting for his life?"

She leaned against him, her arms going around him in support. "I know. I know. But Jackson won't let you see him, so you might as well be here where you can do some good." She was silent for a moment, thinking. "If they got to him without going inside, would they have left some sort of residue of something behind?"

He sighed, feeling better with her arms around him. He'd felt so alone here for the past hours, not knowing if his friend and commander was even still alive, but trying to do what he could to find the cause. Anything that might help the doctors combat what had been done to him! But they'd found nothing so far. The team was still working in the house – Ed had accumulated a lot of stuff over the years, and it took some going through – but nothing had been discovered yet that could have incapacitated their leader. He felt like he'd failed his friend in his hour of need.

He tried to focus on something positive. Ginny's question. Right. "We haven't been able to identify any residue in or around the house. But it's always possible there won't be one. Hell, they could have used sound waves for all we know!"

"Sound waves?" she asked in surprise.

He nodded. "There are certain sounds that can induce catatonia and death. They could have done something like that to him, and we'd be years finding a cure for it."

She looked at him with a great deal of respect, and he flushed before explaining. "Ed's had the research team working on it for over a year. Their findings so far have been pretty grim."

"Oh, Alec! Why didn't I stay with him? What difference did it make if I was dressed for the opera or not when he was being hurt?"

"Now, stop it!" he scolded her. "You can't do that! It does no good at all to second guess yourself. You couldn't have known, Ginny. You couldn't have prepared for something like this. None of us could!"

"Were there any ships sighted after we left HQ this afternoon?" she asked after a moment.

He sighed heavily. "No. But that's no guarantee that they didn't find a way through our radar. They've done it before, you know."

Several members of the team came out of the house just then, and Lt. Mercer walked over to them. "Colonel, we've finished inside."

"Right," Alec answered, shifting out of Ginny's arms. "Anything, Lieutenant?"

"No, sir. Sorry, sir. The only thing out of place we found was a suit laid out on the bed."

Alec nodded. "He was planning on going to the opera with his fiancee tonight."

The lieutenant gave Col. Lake a respectful nod, then turned back to Freeman. "Yes, sir. We've documented everything in the house carefully, and we're ready to seal the doors. Anything you need to do first?"

"Yeah. I want to walk through it once more. Go ahead and send the crew home, Lieutenant. I'll just be a minute or two, then you can seal things up."

"Yes, sir." Mercer stepped away to speak to the team.

"Ginny," Alec said, turning to her. "Go on home now. We won't have any answers tonight. I'll see you at the hospital in the morning."

But she shook her head. "Let me go with you to look around," she said. "I might notice something. It never occurred to me to check things out earlier. My one concern was for Ed."

"No one's blaming you, Ginny!" he said. "Of course, you did the right thing getting help for Ed. But if the team found nothing out of place, then that's probably because nothing is."

"Then why are you looking?"

He sighed. "Because I can't just leave without making sure. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. "But how recently have you been here, Alec? Would you notice any changes?"

"Probably. I think the last time I was out here was seven months ago. But he doesn't change much, Ginny. You know that."

"Yes, I do know. But the last time I was here was two weeks ago for dinner. When he . . . when he . . . proposed." She was silent for a minute, battling tears. Then she said, "I'll notice more quickly than you if something's been moved. Let me help, Alec. Please let me help!"

He met her tear-drenched eyes, knowing that she was feeling just as helpless as he was at the moment. "Alright," he said. "But don't touch anything."

She nodded, and they walked into Straker's house.

**Chapter 2**

The house looked so desolate as they walked through it, checking each area before moving on. The team had done very little damage to the way it had looked, and Ginny knew they would have made sure to do an extra careful job with this, the commander's home. It made her eyes want to tear up again just to think of the respect and love his people had for him. _Oh, Ed! _she thought. _If you could see how much we all love you!_

She held onto Alec's arm when they entered the bedroom. He swiftly walked over to the bathroom to make certain that everything was as pristine as it had been earlier, but she stayed where she was near the door, staring at the place on the carpet where she had found her fiancee.

Alec came out of the bathroom and started to speak, then saw the look on her face. He came over to her quickly and took her arm, setting her down on the edge of the bed and forcing her head between her knees. "Steady, now," he said. "Just breathe."

After a few minutes, she raised her head, giving him a sheepish smile. "Sorry. It got to me all of a sudden."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Did you find anything?"

"No." He fingered the silk of Straker's suit where it still lay on the bed nearby. "He'd have looked grand in this," he said gruffly.

"Let's go, Alec," Ginny said softly, laying a hand on his arm. "There's nothing here. We're only messing ourselves up to stay like this."

Freeman nodded. "You're right. Let's go. Want me to follow you home?"

She gave him a sad smile as they left the house. "Do I look that bad?"

He rubbed her back before letting her go on to her car. "Almost," he said, and he was only half-teasing.

She gazed steadily at him for a moment over the top of her car door, then she smiled again. "Do whatever you want, Alec. You worry almost as much as Ed does. But I think I can drive home okay."

He gave her a reassuring look. "We'll just make sure of that, if you don't mind." And he slid behind the wheel of his car. He let her turn around and head away from Straker's home before he backed out to follow her. He'd nearly lost one friend today. He didn't want to lose another.

Straker surfaced from a nightmare full of death and destruction. "Tay!" he screamed, his head thrashing on the pillow. "Tay!"

"It's all right," a calm voice said, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes with some difficulty and focused on the face that hovered nearby. When his foggy brain was able to register it, he said quietly, "Dr. Jackson?"

The doctor gave a sigh. "Yes, Commander. How are you feeling?"

Straker blinked at him for a moment. "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us, Commander. What do you remember?"

"I don't . . . I was getting ready to go out. Wasn't I? I had a new suit that I wanted to wear."

"Yes. We found the suit on your bed. Do you remember anything that happened after that? Something that perhaps took your attention away from getting dressed?"

Straker frowned as he concentrated. Finally he shook his head. "There's nothing, Doctor. That's all I remember. The next thing I knew I was waking up here."

"You don't recall feeling dizzy or unable to breathe? A tightness in your chest perhaps? Some physical sign that all was not well?"

The commander met his eyes in surprise. "Yes! I did. Just as I was standing up, in fact, I felt suddenly lightheaded. I put out my hand to get my balance and . . . That must have been when everything went black."

"But you saw nothing that might have caused such a reaction?" the doctor persisted.

"No. I'm sorry." Straker laid his head back suddenly, as if too weary to discuss it any further. "I missed the opera with Virginia, didn't I? How long have I been out?"

"I think that's the least of your worries at present, Commander. You've been here nearly twenty-four hours." Jackson noted the sweat that had broken out on his forehead. "Commander, how are you feeling?"

"Well, I . . . um," Straker said, glancing around vaguely for something he didn't find. He finally looked at the doctor in distress. "Um . . ."

Quickly Jackson set a small plastic bowl in front of him as he vomited. He gestured for the nurse to get him a wet cloth, then took it from her and bathed the commander's forehead with it when he laid back once more against the pillow. "There," he soothed. "That's all better now, isn't it?"

Straker nodded weakly, and the doctor handed the nurse the bowl, saying, "Take this for analysis immediately."

"Yes, Doctor," she said and left the room with it.

After a few minutes, the commander's breathing evened out and his face regained some of its normal color. He met the doctor's eyes apologetically, and Jackson patted his hand where it lay on the sheets. He knew how much the commander hated to get ill.

"Is it the flu?" the commander asked.

Dr. Jackson gave him a Slavic shrug. "It's hard to say, Commander. Some of your symptoms seem like the flu, but the suddenness of the attack makes me suspicious. We cannot discount the fact that you are continually a target. We are running several tests to try and isolate the cause of your illness, but we won't have final results for a few days yet. It's really too soon to speculate."

"I see."

"Was this attack sudden?" the doctor asked him. "Or have you been feeling unwell and simply ignored it?"

Straker grimaced slightly. He knew that the doctor had been upset with him before for doing just that. "I guess I've been feeling off for a little while now," he admitted.

"How long?"

He gave the doctor a pleading look and said quietly, "Are they in the observation room?"

Jackson glanced at the mirrored wall, behind which were the commander's best friend, as well as his fiancee. "Yes, Commander. They are there."

"Could you . . . turn it off for a minute?"

Jackson found that question very interesting, but he merely raised a brow and smiled slyly as he said, "I already have, Commander. I didn't think you would want them to see you get sick."

Straker's answering smile was weak, but still retained its charm as he said, "You know, Jackson. In spite of everything I know about you, sometimes I'm almost convinced that you're a decent fellow."

The doctor chuckled. "Why, thank you, Commander. Now, won't you tell me what you didn't want them to hear?"

"It's not anything they aren't already aware of," Straker clarified. "It's just that it's not something I want Virginia to have to be concerned about. You see, I haven't really felt well ever since Mary's death."

"Ah!" said the doctor. It was all clear now. Commander Straker, for all his highhanded arrogance, had a fine sense of delicacy when it came to other people's feelings. He would never deliberately say anything to hurt someone else. It went against everything in his nature. And discussing his feelings about his exwife with his fiancee in the next room listening was something he would simply never do. "Please, go on."

The commander idly plucked at the sheets covering him as he spoke of things he rarely said out loud. "It's just . . . when I heard about the car accident, I was so shocked. It was so sudden, so awful. And I guess at the back of my mind, I'd always harbored the hope that we might be able to mend things between us someday. To at least reach a point where she didn't hate me any more. And that's not ever going to happen now. And I didn't know how to deal with knowing that."

"Yes," the doctor said with a slow nod. "One of the harshest things about death is that it makes it impossible any longer for us to give or receive forgiveness from those we care about. She died nearly a month ago, didn't she? How deep did this depression go, Commander?"

Straker met his eyes for a minute. "I wasn't suicidal, if that's what you're asking, Doctor. It was just a shock." He sighed and closed his eyes as if too tired to continue. When he opened them again, he said, "I was so very grateful to Virginia for helping me get through it all. She'll never know how much she did for me to give me hope for the future again. Maybe that sounds cold-blooded, but . . ."

"No, it doesn't," the doctor said firmly. "Life always trumps death, Commander. Even though it sometimes takes death to remind us to live. Still, in any contest, life wins out over death every time."

"An intriguing philosophy, Jackson."

The doctor nodded. "Yes. And one any scientist who has studied the cycle of life should be able to grasp. But other than the depression, did you feel physically unwell?"

Straker thought back. "Yes. Shortly after her funeral." At Jackson's inquiring look, he shook his head. "No. I didn't go. I wanted to – to pay my last respects, to apologize once more for how horribly everything went wrong between us. But I was fairly certain that her husband would have enjoyed causing a scene if I dared to show my face there, and I didn't want to do that to her. So I stayed away."

"Did the symptoms begin that day?"

"No. But not long after that, I noticed that I was getting short of breath at odd moments while doing things that normally wouldn't tax me at all. Like climbing stairs or walking any distance on the lots. I was . . . concerned, but there wasn't really enough going on to warrant calling you about it. I just assumed that I was still adjusting to the shock and let it go."

"Until yesterday when it reared up and demanded your attention."

"Pretty much," Straker said with a grimace. "So I guess it could be just some bug that's going around. Right?"

The doctor shook his head. "I don't know. Most viruses don't put their victims into a catatonic state, which is what you were in when you were found."

Straker blinked in surprise. "Oh! Um, who found me?"

"Your fiancee."

The commander closed his eyes with a deep sigh. "I see. So I not only broke our date, but I probably traumatized her as well."

"She was naturally upset," the doctor admitted. "But she is a strong woman, Commander, as I'm sure you know. She is holding up quite well under the circumstances."

"That's good to know." Straker kept his eyes closed, looking much wearier than he had the moment before.

Dr. Jackson got up from beside his bed and said briskly, "I will have a tray sent up to you shortly. Broth, I think, will settle best on your stomach. And perhaps some crackers with that?"

The commander opened his eyes at that and smiled wryly at the doctor. He'd unfortunately been a patient often enough for the doctor to know his food preferences. "Thank you, Doctor. That sounds fine."

"Good. If you pass the night restfully, I will allow you visitors tomorrow. Good night, Commander."

"Good night."

**Chapter 3**

He was walking in a desolate hell that looked as grey and dusty as the lunar surface, but which sported burnt and blackened tree trunks that still smoked. He was looking for something . . . or someone . . . and he'd been looking a long time. But there was a sense of urgency now, as if he intuitively knew that the end was near, that either he would soon die or what was left of this destroyed world would die if he didn't find what he sought.

He began to run. And running, to cry out . . .

"Tay! Tay!" he murmured, the sound of his own voice waking him. He blinked at the bright morning light coming into the hospital window and saw his fiancee sitting next to the bed, her hand on his where it lay on the sheets. He tried a smile. "Hello."

Virginia gave him a relieved smile in return. "Ed! Oh, Ed! We've been so worried. How do you feel?"

He gave her a smile that came close to resembling his normal charming one. "Like I've been tackled by an entire offensive line. And neglected to put my own pads on first."

She shook her head at him. "Football, I suppose? I didn't think you ever played."

"I didn't. But I had friends who did."

She squeezed his hand, her gaze worried. "Ed, what happened to you? Jackson said that it might be some kind of illness. But it didn't seem that way to me when I found you. I thought the aliens had done something to you!"

Her voice cracked on the words, and he squeezed her hand in return. In apology. "Virginia, I'm so sorry that you had to see me that way. Please forgive me. I know it must have terrified you."

Her lovely grey eyes had tears in them, but she bravely blinked them back as she answered. "Don't worry about that, Ed. You couldn't help it. I'm just so glad that I was picking you up, or it might have been too late when help finally arrived!" She swallowed. "Just don't . . . ever do that again, alright?"

"I'd promise, but I'm not sure if I could keep it," he said wearily.

Involuntarily, she grinned, remembering how many times he'd been hospitalized since she'd known him. "Well . . . try, anyway."

His face lightened as he smiled. "I can promise that much."

After a moment, she looked at their joined hands. "Ed, what was that word you said when you first woke?"

He met her eyes in surprise. "I said something?"

"Yes. When you first woke up. You said one word over and over. Don't you remember?"

He shook his head, trying to think about waking up. He'd been in a nightmare, somewhere very strange and empty . . . and he'd been frantically searching for something . . . "What was the word?" he asked diffidently.

"Tay."

He blinked in shock, then carefully relaxed every muscle. "What does that mean?" he said, his voice very bland.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "It's not English. You don't recognize it from anywhere?"

"No."

She sat back in her chair, releasing his hand. "How odd. You've said it before too."

"I have?"

Ginny nodded. "Once or twice. Each time just as you were waking up. You really don't know what it means?"

He shook his head. "You're right. It's not really even a word, is it?"

"No." She patted his hand. "I'll look it up. Perhaps it has some obscure meaning that you don't remember and I never heard of. It's probably not important. I just thought it was strange, you saying it again."

His lips formed a wry smile. "I don't mean to be such a trial to you, Virginia."

She flushed, denying his words with a shake of her head. "You're not, Ed. You must know you're not! My only wish is that you take good care of yourself. I want that wedding you promised me."

His smile was wider this time and reached his eyes. "Didn't you tell me that you'd narrowed down your dress to three choices?"

"Yes," she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "But don't bother trying to trick me into giving you any details. I'm made of stronger stuff than that. I want it to be a surprise."

"I'm sure I'll love seeing you in it, no matter what dress you choose," he assured her. "You always look beautiful."

Her flush deepened, and she grabbed his hand impulsively. "Oh, Ed! Why did we wait so long to admit what we felt for each other?"

"Well," he said. "That's behind us now. We have a wonderful future ahead of us. Let's concentrate on that, okay?"

"Yes. Yes, you're right."

"Where's Alec?"

"Oh. He's outside. He wanted to give us the chance to talk first before he joined us."

His hand came up and lightly touched her cheek. "Are we done?"

She grinned. "Yes. I'll get him." She got up and went to the door. After a minute, she returned with his second-in-command. She took her fiancee's hand once more. "Listen, Ed. I'm going on into work now, so that you can chat with Alec. But if you need me, please have them call me. Okay?"

"Thank you," he said, drawing her close with his hand and kissing her. "Will I see you later?"

She was blushing when she drew away. "Yes. I'll stop in after my shift and let you know how HQ is doing without its commander."

He smiled as he watched her leave, then as he turned to his best friend, the smile became wry. "Do I really want to know what HQ does when I'm not there?"

Alec grinned and took the seat by the bed that Ginny had used. "Hell, no! It's too depressing!"

"That's what I think," Straker said. He gave his friend a long look – noting the worry lines, the signs of exhaustion. "I'm sorry, Alec. I didn't mean to give you a hard time."

Col. Freeman's grin widened ruefully. "You never do. Mean to, I mean."

Straker grimaced, acknowledging the point. "Have you found anything?"

Alec shook his head with a sigh. "Not much to find, if you ask me. But we're still going through the list of your things, trying to come up with something that doesn't belong there. Eventually, I'll get you a copy of the list, and you can go over it yourself."

His commander frowned. "Why didn't you bring it today?"

"Are you kidding? And have Jackson jump down my throat for overtiring you? Not a chance!"

"Oh."

Alec correctly interpreted that monosyllable and said, "Forgot you were sick for a minute, didn't you?"

Straker shrugged. "I feel okay today. Not nearly as . . . disoriented as I was last night."

"You're still pale."

He saw the anxiety in his friend's eyes and said lightly, "Where is that makeup assistant when I need her?"

Alec grinned, but his anxiety didn't lessen. "Ed. What the hell is going on with you? You haven't been yourself for a while now, and I'm really starting to worry about you."

"Alec, I'm fine."

"Right. So says the man flat on his back in the hospital."

Straker grimaced. "Other than that, I mean."

"Oh, sure," his friend said acidly. "You're exwife dies and suddenly you're getting married again? You don't find that just a bit odd, Ed?"

Those blue eyes didn't meet his, but stayed on his hands, which were toying with the edge of the sheet that covered him. "Don't I deserve a life too, Alec?"

"Of course, you do! But is this the life you want? Or just the easiest one available?"

Straker looked at him in shock. "I . . .!"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Listen, Ed. Ginny's a fine woman. Brilliant; beautiful. What more could a man ask for?"

"So why are you asking?"

His friend sat back with a sigh. "Because I know you. You fall in love immediately, and no one can get you to change your mind once it's made up. And man, did I try!"

"Don't go there."

"No. I won't. It's all water way under the bridge by now anyway. But you've known Ginny for years, and you never showed any signs of being in love with her before now. And believe me, Ed. If they were there, I'd have seen them!"

"Yes, Mother."

Alec's lips twitched, but his voice remained serious. "Come on, Ed. What gives here? Is this your way of dealing with your grief over losing Mary? Because you're not doing yourself or Ginny any favors if that's the case."

Straker sighed, running a hand over his face. "I got drunk," he said softly.

"_What?_"

He met Alec's astonished eyes and sighed again. "The night Mary died. It just . . . devastated me, Alec. I know I should have been able to handle it. It's not as if we'd even spoken in over two years! But it was so sudden. And so final somehow. I can't explain it."

Alec patted his hand. "It's okay, Ed. I understand. You always hoped for a reconciliation, didn't you?"

"No. Not that. I knew that wasn't ever going to happen. But I guess I thought we might someday be friends again. Or at least – civil."

"And now it's too late."

"Yeah."

"So you got drunk."

Straker's hands started fidgeting again. "Yeah. HQ was covered. You were working the night shift, so it wasn't as if I was ignoring my duty or anything like that. I just needed . . ."

"Oblivion."

Straker's eyes were moist when they met his. "Yes. All my failures, all the lost opportunities, just came crashing down on me, and I had to escape somehow."

Alec sat back, keeping his eyes on his friend. "And how did it feel to drink it all away?"

"It didn't. I mean, it took the edge off, which was nice. But it didn't wipe it all out. I guess I was expecting something on the order of the amnesia drug."

Freeman grinned. "Now that would be some booze!"

Straker grinned too. "Well, it wasn't as if I'd had enough experience to know it wouldn't happen that way!"

"So where does Ginny enter into it?"

"Oh. Well. She, um . . . came out to the house to give me the report on the new Moonbase upgrades. I'd wanted it immediately. Not that I expected quite that much diligence on her part. Morning would have been soon enough, but . . ."

"Geez, Ed!"

Straker turned away. "I didn't force her, Alec. I don't remember some of the details of that night, but it wasn't rape."

"Of course, it wasn't!" Alec hastened to say. Straker was the least violent person he'd ever known. And the most chivalrous. Which meant that if he'd gotten intimate, he'd have felt responsible. "Did you ask her to marry you in the morning?"

"Of course not!" his friend denied hotly. "Do you think I would be so stupid? I waited. I needed to see if things would be different at work – if there would be problems. But there weren't. She was fine. Maybe she'd glance at me once or twice when she thought I wouldn't notice, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle."

"What changed that?"

"Nothing. I mean, it wasn't her. It was me!" He said it almost guiltily.

"Okay," Alec said, unsure what he meant. "What about you?"

Straker swallowed. "I kept remembering . . . bits and pieces . . . of that night. And I . . ." He stopped, unable to continue.

Alec closed his eyes for a minute. Then he said, "And you thought it might work between you."

"She knows about my job. That's the biggest hurdle right there, Alec, and you know it! And we care about each other. Surely that counts for something? As well as everything we have in common in our fields of interest. I don't know why you're worried!"

Alec sighed. "Maybe because you don't love her, Ed. Isn't that something I should be worried about?"

Straker fiddled unhappily with the sheet. "But I care for her. Isn't that better than love? Love blinded me, Alec, till I couldn't see straight! Took me into the whirlwind until I was certain I'd be dashed into pieces. I barely survived it. Barely put myself back together afterward. I know it's not exactly fair to feel less than your spouse. But love can grow, Alec. I learned that with Mary. Love can grow far beyond what you ever expected. And I think – sometimes I think – if SHADO hadn't happened, Mary and I would have made it. Hell, we weren't doing too badly in spite of SHADO actually! Until . . ."

"Yeah, I know. It's okay, Ed. You don't have to relive it."

Straker closed his eyes and swallowed, grateful that he didn't have to go on. Didn't have to mention John and all the fallout that occurred because he couldn't be everywhere at once for his family. His eyes were moist, though, when he opened them. "I'll be fifty soon. Retirement will be possible in ten years, if I live that long. God, Alec! What the hell will I do with myself then if I don't have a reason to go on? If I'm married, even without kids, it's companionship at least. Would you have me bypass that simply because I'm not passionately in love with her? You said it yourself. She's a wonderful woman. I can make her happy. And she will definitely make me happy. That's enough for me. And it should be enough for you too."

Alec sighed heavily. "Alright. I'll say no more. You'll do what you want anyway, no matter what I say. You always have. I can hardly expect you to change at this late date. But you're my best friend, Ed. And Ginny's a good friend too. I don't want to see either of you unhappy."

"You won't, Alec. I promise you that."

"Fine." Alec got up from the chair and went to where his briefcase sat near the door. He brought it back and opened it, pulling out a sheaf of papers and handing them to his commander. "This is the newest script from Mason. It's ridiculous and will need a ton of rewrites. But it has promise. Look it over and let me know how you want me to pursue things. Okay?"

Straker frowned. "I'd rather look over the checklist of things at my house."

"Yeah, I know. Blame Jackson. I'll bring it with me tomorrow. In the meantime, at least you've got work. Be grateful I didn't bring you a spy novel."

Straker's lips twitched. "Oh, Alec. I'm very grateful. I assure you."

**Chapter 4**

"It's a river in Scotland."

Straker glanced up from his supper, a question in his blue eyes.

Ginny shrugged and took a sip from her coffee. "That's what 'Tay' is. It's the name of a river in Scotland. It empties into the North Sea. Does that ring any bells with you?"

He shook his head. "It's really a word?" he asked, somewhat bemused.

She gave him a tight smile. "Apparently."

He gave her a warm smile. "You're amazing, do you know that? The best researcher I've ever seen."

She flushed. "Now you're trying to turn my head."

His smile turned ornery. "Is it working?"

"Ed!"

He went back to his meal, his lips still quirked slightly.

After a while, she tried again. "Ed, if that's not what it means to you, there must be something else. Doesn't it bother you that you don't remember what that is?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He sighed. "I guess because it really doesn't sound like anything, Virginia. It's like a nonsense word or something. I can't believe it was even in the dictionary! I don't think it's worth worrying about."

"What if it's something important?"

'Like what?"

"I don't know. A code word or something. An acronym. Something vital that you've forgotten. Don't you want to remember it?"

"No."

She sighed. "Why not?"

"Because it isn't important. It's not some secret code or acronym. It's nothing."

"How do you know?" she persisted.

"Because if it was, I wouldn't have forgotten it!" he said, exasperated with her. "Listen, Virginia. I know this entire incident has upset you. It's rather upset me too. But I refuse to act like I'm in the middle of a spy novel, putting undue stress on every little thing as if it's a clue to what happened to me. I don't believe it. Okay?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm getting paranoid, I guess."

He reached out a hand to her. "I'm a lot better. Jackson says that if the rest of the tests come back negative, I can go home in two days. I wish it was tomorrow, but he's being extra-cautious and doesn't want to let me out until all the tests are clear. Now, our appointment with the vicar is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Were you able to get that time changed to another day?"

"Yes," she said, enjoying the feel of his hand in hers. "I didn't know how long it would be until you were up and about again, so I rescheduled it for next Friday. Will that do?"

"I think so. Confirm it with Miss Ealand, if you will. I'm not positive about my studio schedule that far ahead."

"Alright."

He searched her grey eyes for a moment, then said quietly, "Listen. I don't think there was anything sinister about what happened to me. If it was the aliens, then why didn't they take advantage of my being out of the way and attack?"

"I don't know."

"See? It doesn't make sense. And if it was someone else, it begs the question why? I haven't made anyone that angry that they'd try to kill me. And there must certainly be a lot more easy ways to do it than to bypass my security and get into my house to do whatever they would have had to do in order to incapacitate me. Do you see? None of it makes sense that way. The only thing that does make sense is that I got sick. And since I was ignoring it instead of getting it checked when I first noticed the problem, it somehow escalated without me being aware of it. You see that, don't you?"

"Yes, Ed. I'm sorry. It's hard for me to think of it as something so minor. It didn't look minor to me when I found you."

"Come here." He set aside his tray and drew her into his arms, holding her close against his chest while he stroked her hair. "Well, I'm hoping that once I'm married, my wife will keep a sharp eye on me and not let me ignore it when I'm under the weather. Maybe then, things like this won't happen anymore."

She relaxed against him, smiling into his pajama top. "You can count on it."

He realized what it had to be as soon as he saw the list in the morning. He looked at Alec in shock.

"What is it, Ed?" he said, immediately understanding that look.

Straker set down the list and said as calmly as he could, "I need to speak to you alone."

"Now?"

The commander nodded grimly, not looking anywhere else but at his second-in-command. "Right now."

Alec stood up and went to the door, opening it and saying, "Alright. You heard him. Visiting hours are over."

"Ed!" Paul said, coming close to the bed instead of filing out of the room. "This is the first chance I've gotten to come see you! Surely you're not going to throw me out already?"

Straker didn't answer, his lips tightly compressed as he kept his gaze on Col. Freeman.

"Come on, Paul!" Alec said. "Follow orders without question for once."

Col. Foster huffed and left the room, his anger at being dismissed so summarily remaining behind like a stale perfume.

"Ginny?" Alec said.

She had been staring after Paul and jumped when he said her name. "Oh! Did you mean me too, Ed?"

"Yes," he said tersely, still focusing only on Alec. "I'll explain later. Alright?"

"Alright." She picked up her purse and left the room after looking worriedly from her fiancee to his second-in-command.

Once they were gone, Alec locked the door and came back to the bed. As he sat in the chair, he said, "What is it, Ed? What did you find that shouldn't be there?"

Straker closed his eyes for a moment, wishing he was wrong. But everything suddenly made sense to him. He even had a vague idea as to the why of all of it. God, couldn't he just be wrong? He opened his eyes and looked at the best friend he had in all the world. "Alec," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. "It wasn't something that shouldn't be there. It's something that has been there so long I've ceased to even think about it. But as soon as I saw it on the list, I remembered touching it while I was sitting on the edge of the bed that day. Before I got up to get dressed. In fact, I'd been touching it a lot lately, because the thought of getting married again reminded me of it."

"What, Ed? What is it?"

"This!" And Straker pointed to the seventh item on the long list.

Dr. Jackson accompanied Col. Freeman into the commander's hospital room that afternoon. He had latex gloves on his hands and had thoughtfully brought a pair for the commander to use as well. Once Straker had them on, he handed him the item.

The commander just sat holding it for a long time. It was such a small thing to have caused such an enormous problem. Small and square. Just a burgundy silk box. He stroked it as he had done countless times over the years. In fact, he could see the wear marks where the silk had worn under the constant caress of his fingers. But under the strong lights of the hospital room, he could also see that the silk was stained darker than its normal color. Quietly he said, "What is it?"

Jackson gave a great sigh. "It's a poison I've never seen before. Very powerful; very slow to work. But the affects are cumulative, making themselves felt over a period of time."

"So every time I touched it, I was getting more of the poison in my system, making my condition worse."

"Yes."

"Why didn't your tests show it?"

The doctor shrugged. "Like I said, I've never come across it before. If you hadn't shown us where to look, I doubt if we'd ever have found it at all."

Straker closed his eyes for a moment as if he wanted to negate everything he was being told. But finally he opened them again.

And flipped up the lid of the box.

Dr. Jackson stepped forward to view the beautiful ring closer. Its brilliant diamond sent slivers of light throughout the room as the overhead lights hit its surface. It was a gorgeous piece, and had probably cost the earth. "Who was it for?" he asked softly.

Straker swallowed. "For my first love. A woman I haven't seen in almost twenty years. She left. She left me before I had the chance to ask her to marry me. I'd bought the ring, but then let myself be persuaded to wait an extra day. Something had come up that needed my attention." He laughed harshly. "God! That's the story of my life, isn't it?"

"Don't, Ed," Alec said hoarsely.

Straker rounded on him. "Damn you, Alec! Why did I listen to you? I wasn't needed at that incident site! You could have handled getting the information without me. And I would have had the chance to ask her! To try and persuade her to marry me! But what did you care? You thought I was foolish to even get involved with her!"

"She was a security risk! Damn it, Ed! Surely you're not still so blind that you can't see that?"

Straker laid back wearily against the pillow. "I loved her. Didn't that matter?"

The room was silent for a long time. Finally Alec said, "If I'd known you would marry Ol' Gunderguts' daughter on the rebound, I'd have acted differently. I can tell you!"

Straker smiled without any humor at all. "Well, at least she wasn't a security risk, was she?"

"Damn it, Ed!"

Carefully Straker closed the lid of the small box, shutting the diamond back into the dark. Just as he had shut the door on everything he'd felt for so many years. Cut off the arm, cauterized the wound, and tried to go on. But a cripple never could be whole again, could they? And the memories would not be silenced when he slept. Virginia had said that he'd called her name in his sleep. He wondered vaguely if Mary had heard it as well. Heard it and wondered – as Virginia no doubt had – what it meant? _Who_ it meant?

"Is she in custody?" he asked after a moment.

Alec sighed. "Yeah. God damn it! I can't believe it, Ed! It makes no sense!"

Straker's smile was bitter. "Oh, yes. It makes perfect sense, Alec. If you'd ever loved someone deeply, you'd know that. You're not willing to share. It's that simple."

Freeman shook his head. "But she wasn't going to have to share you! You were marrying her, weren't you? Taylor's ancient history, damn it!"

"Not to her."

"Why not?"

"Because she wasn't to me," Straker said slowly.

"But to kill you – that's insane!"

Straker looked at him in surprise. "Oh, she wasn't trying to kill me, Alec! I just needed to learn a lesson."

"What are you talking about?"

"The commander is right, Colonel," Jackson said softly. "In Col. Lake's mind, she was punishing him every time he looked at the box. Every time he thought of the woman he loved. It didn't matter to her that the commander would never see this woman again. To him – and therefore, to Virginia – she was a rival for his affections."

Straker nodded grimly. "And she refused to share me."

"And that's not insane?"

"Sure it is," Straker said harshly. "But that's what love does to you. It tears out your heart and then forces you to eat it one acid bite at a time."

"Ed!" Alec was shocked by his friend's tone. By words so bitter they tore the air.

Straker turned away, setting the box carefully on the nightstand and peeling off the latex gloves. "I'm tired, Doctor. I'd like to sleep now."

Gingerly the doctor picked up the box, then ushered Col. Freeman out of the room and closed the door.

**Chapter 5**

"How long ago, Major?" he said, his voice harsh.

Major Gerkin cleared his throat nervously. He'd never heard the Colonel sound so upset. "Around 0330, sir. The guard was worried when she didn't come out of the restroom."

"She shouldn't have been_ in_ the restroom!" Alec shouted.

"Sir. Respectfully, sir. We all know Col. Lake. The guard had no reason to doubt her. Sir."

Freeman ran a tired hand over his face. "Alright, Major. But didn't it occur to Haslett that there might be a reason she was in detention in the first place?"

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, get out of here!" Alec said, tired of being sirred to death. He knew the major would stand there and let him shout at him for the next five hours – and take it as his due. But none of that would help them find the colonel.

Once the major left the HQ office, Alec got on the phone to alert the hospital.

"Anything yet?"

Alec shook his head. "God, Ed! I'm so sorry! That idiot Haslett!"

"Come on, Alec," Straker said calmly. "You know how easily Virginia could wrap those men around her finger. Most of the time, she didn't even need to speak. Just turn those grey eyes on them and – pow! They're done."

"You sound like you admire her for it."

"I do. It's quite a talent. It takes a strong man to withstand the allure of those eyes."

Freeman grunted. "Well, we'll see how strong he feels after a week on report!"

"Are you going to pace my room all day?" Straker asked after a while.

Alec sat down. "Ed," he said wearily. "I'm sorry. I was so wrong."

"About what?"

"About Taylor."

"Don't, Alec."

The colonel ran a hand through his hair. "You're right. I didn't know. I've never been in love. I thought you'd get over her, and that would be that."

"I'm not you."

"No. I know that. The years have taught me that, if nothing else! I wish I'd realized it then. I would have done so much differently."

"You can't blame yourself, Alec."

"Why not? You do."

Straker shook his head. "No, I don't. Not really. We make our own choices, Alec. In the end, I chose to go with you when I should have gone to her. It's the pattern of my life. Duty always took precedence over what I wanted. Hell, my epitaph will probably be: _he did his duty_. I can't think of a more fitting one, can you? Or more damning."

Freeman stood up and started pacing once more. "You're a good man, Ed. You have to know that."

"The hell I am!" Straker shut his eyes, wondering if they would end up having to kill her. If she would accept capture and a court martial when they finally caught up with her. Or if she'd run until she was stopped by a bullet. "If I'd been a good man, I wouldn't have gotten drunk that night, would I? I wouldn't have given her the hope of being an important part of my life, only to have her find out she wasn't the only woman important to me. Hell, if I'd been a good man, I'd have loved her as she deserved! Not pined away for a lost lover who probably hasn't thought of me once in the last eighteen years! I'm not good, Alec. Far from it. I'm a damned fool – and always have been."

"I can't stand to hear you talk like this. You've never talked like this before."

The blue eyes that met his were wet with tears of self-hate. "I've never had to look at myself so clearly before, Alec. And seen how my preoccupation with an obsession destroyed my entire life. And not just mine, but the lives of those around me. And all for what? So that I could wallow in my pain? So that I could keep that memory sacred at the cost of everything that really mattered? Where was the good in that? Where?" His voice broke and he turned away, blinking rapidly. Finally he said harshly, "And will you stop pacing the floor?"

"Sorry." The colonel came back and sat down.

"Look," Straker said, taking a deep breath until his voice was calmer. "Isn't there something you could be doing besides staying cooped up in here? You know her haunts. I'm surprised you aren't checking them out personally."

"Are you kidding?" Alec said in astonishment. "She'll come here! She'll have to. She'll need to finish what she started. If she won't share you, then it stands to reason that she can't let you live without her."

But the commander was shaking his head. "She won't, Alec. She doesn't want me dead. In her mind, it's just a matter of time before I tell her that I love her. She doesn't want to kill me, because then I can't tell her what she wants to hear."

"Then what does she want?"

Straker sighed. "She wants me to stop loving Tay. That's what she wants."

"How can she make that happen?"

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. Maybe she hopes I've learned my lesson."

"Or maybe she realizes you'd keep touching that box even if it killed you."

Straker whitened. "If she thought that . . . !"

". . . she'd go after Taylor!" Alec finished, jumping up from the chair and getting on the phone. After he spoke to his men, he hung up and turned to his friend. "Do you have any idea where she is these days? Did you keep tabs on her at all?"

Straker shook his head absently, still visibly stunned by the thought. "No. I never did find out where she went. Don't you think I would have followed her if I could?"

"Well, it might not be a problem then. If you can't find her, then Ginny won't be able to."

"You're forgetting, Alec. Virginia is an excellent researcher. If Tay can be found, she'll find her. Somehow, we've got to find her first."

Agent Romano entered the house through the back door, throwing the car keys onto the kitchen counter on her way upstairs to bed. It had been a long day, and she was ready for some zzz's. But as she started up the stairs, she glanced into the living room.

And froze.

She just stared for several minutes, afraid to move or speak in case it was all a hallucination and moving would break the spell. She didn't even breathe. But finally she had to inhale, and when the vision didn't disappear, she found she could move after all and walked slowly into the living room.

"Ed?"

"Hello, Taylor," he said quietly from where he sat on her couch.

"What are you doing here?"

His smile was a ghost of its former self when he answered. "That's a long story."

Her knees almost buckled at his words, and she was thrown back in time for an instant to the day they'd met. When she had said those words to him. She came closer and perched on the edge of the recliner, needing to get off her shaky legs. "I hope you mean to tell me."

"I'll try."

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked, hoping to put them both more at ease.

'Thank you."

She went to the kitchen to brew a pot, her mind reeling over this unexpected development. What could it mean that he was here? And after all this time? And God! Did he have to still look so damned gorgeous?

When she handed him his cup of coffee, she was careful not to touch his fingers. How humiliating would it be if she fumbled the cup and spilled coffee all over him? She didn't want to find out.

He wasn't quick to speak, and she remembered that about him. He'd always been a quiet man, seeing much more than he ever said. She was afraid he was seeing her nerves far too clearly right now, so she said, "What brings you to the States?"

"You do."

She was shocked. "Me? How is that possible? I'm no actress."

"No," he agreed quietly. "You're an agent for Interpol, just as you were when we first met. Although your security clearance rating has increased a lot since then. By the way, your boss speaks very highly of you. And was willing to swear that any trouble you were in was not of your doing."

"Am I in trouble then?" she asked, wondering why her over-protective boss had given him her address.

"Yes. I'm afraid so. But your boss was right. It wasn't of your doing."

"Then whose?" she asked, completely at sea.

"Mine."

She shook her head. "Yours? How is that possible? I haven't even seen you in eighteen years!"

"Eighteen years, five months, and two days," he said as calmly as if he were speaking about the weather.

She met his eyes in shock, then looked away, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. "Ed."

"Don't you want to know what kind of trouble I've gotten you in?" he asked.

Taylor took another sip of her coffee to clear her throat. "I'll get to that. Ed, I owe you an apology. It's long overdue, I know. But somehow it never seemed to be the right time to say it. And when I finally got the chance, I didn't know what I could say that would make you even listen to me."

"I'm sorry that you felt there would ever come a time when I wouldn't listen to you, Tay."

His casual use of his nickname for her brought tears to her eyes. She hastily blinked them away, needing to stay as calm as possible. She took a deep breath to steady herself, then met his eyes. "I didn't mean to leave the way I did. So suddenly and without any chance to say good-bye. You have to believe that it took the direst emergency for me to handle it that way. Please say you'll believe me."

"I believe you."

She bit her lip. His voice was so calm, she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But at least he wasn't yelling at her, so she swallowed and continued. "I was recruited into Interpol almost two years before I met you. Actually, I approached them. You see, my father . . ."

"Yes. I knew about your father."

She met his gaze in shock. "You did? How? Were you . . . ?"

"Working for him? No. But with my military clearance, it wasn't hard to get the basics. For a man like that to have a daughter in Interpol could only mean one of two things."

"Which did you believe?" she asked diffidently, unsure she wanted to know.

"That you were working to bring his syndicate down, of course. I seem to remember that occurring about a year later actually. Were you able to see it through to the end?"

"Yes." She rubbed her hands together nervously. He was being so reasonable. What did it mean? "It was in connection with that case that I had to leave New York so suddenly, in fact. We had a sting in operation back in Italy that could have made all the difference, and when it all fell together, my boss needed me there to cement it."

"I understand," he said. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who'd been cursed by being dutiful. "I take it that it didn't work out as planned?"

"No. How . . . ?"

He smiled wryly. "Because his crime syndicate wasn't broken until a year later."

"Oh. Yes. And we were kept hopping that entire time trying to stay one step ahead of him. He had an idea someone had it out for him by then, you see, which made it extremely difficult for us to keep track of his movements."

"I see."

"Anyway," she said, catching her hair behind her ear in the way she did when she was nervous. That simple action made his heart ache with the memories it conjured.

"By the time it was all over, and my life was my own again, I tried to contact you. I knew you'd be angry with me, and maybe not speak to me, but I had to try. Only . . ."

"By then I was married."

She swallowed. "Yes."

"I'm sorry," he said softly, but she heard the emotion behind it and had to blink back fresh tears.

"Did you ever marry?" he asked after a moment.

"No," she said. "Oh, no! I . . . couldn't. It would have been wrong. I had to get over you first."

"And did you manage it?" he asked her, his voice so low that it was almost a whisper in the soft lighting of her living room.

She met his blue eyes bravely, knowing that she had nothing to lose after all these years by telling him the truth. Well, perhaps her self-respect – but what did that matter? "Not really," she admitted.

He sighed. "Neither did I," he said.

Her dark eyes widened in surprise. "You – didn't?"

"No. In fact, my whole life has been a self-defeating effort to get you out of my head. I shouldn't have stopped looking for you. But I didn't want to be a pest, if you'd simply grown tired of me and moved on."

"Tired of you?" she asked somewhat acidly. "How in the hell was I supposed to get tired of you? You filled my every thought – and I wanted more time, so that you could fill that too! _Tired of you? _I don't even know what that means!"

He swept her into his arms so quickly that she didn't even see it. But she felt it – as his arms came around her warmly, as his lips met hers wildly, as their bodies merged as if they had never been apart.

Later – much later – he stroked her luxurious dark hair back from her brow as they lay together on the couch. "I've missed you so much," he said huskily.

Tay tightened her arms around him and kissed his chest. "Me too. Say you don't have to go soon. Say it even if it isn't true."

He sighed. "My darling, I didn't come here to reconcile with you."

"You didn't? Well, why not?"

He grinned wryly. "Mostly because I didn't think you'd go for it."

She giggled in the delightful way he remembered. "Well, I'll bite. Why did you come here? You said something about having got me into trouble. How'd you do that?"

"That's the long story," he said.

"Well, if you promise me that you'll stay at least through tomorrow, I'll listen to your long story. But otherwise, I've got different plans for you that don't include a lot of talking."

He kissed the top of her head. "I love you so much."

She lifted her head to grin at him. "I love you too, Ed. So. Which is it going to be?"

He brought her close enough to kiss. When he finally let her go, he murmured huskily, "I'm not going anywhere for quite a while."

"Glad to hear it," she said somewhat breathlessly and settled back onto his chest to hear his long story.

By morning it was all over. The task force that had surrounded Taylor's house caught Col. Lake when she tried to slide through their defense grid just before dawn. Because of the commander's instructions, they drugged her for the journey back to England. Straker wasn't taking any more chances that she'd charm her way past her guards.

After he consulted with the team leader, he came back into the house. Taylor had gotten up when he'd received the call, and he found her in the kitchen making breakfast. He smiled involuntarily at the sight of her in her short red robe at the stove.

"Something smells good," he said.

She grinned at him, blushing under his admiring gaze. "It's pancakes."

He made a show of sniffing the air. "Not your original, one-of-a-kind, incredibly fluffy, cinnamon raisin pancakes?"

She giggled and kissed his nose. "The very same. Have a seat. They're almost ready."

"God!" he said as he took his first bite. "I'd forgotten how good these are! Marry me, Tay, so that you can make me pancakes every morning!"

"Okay," she said, piling more on his plate.

But when she sat down across from him to eat her own pancakes, he reached over and took her hand in his. "Tay, I shouldn't have said that," he said seriously. "I really don't think of you that lightly. I hope you know that."

She rested her chin on her free hand and grinned at him. "So you don't want to make an honest woman out of me? Is that what you're saying?"

He stared at her for a minute in surprise. Then he said a little stiffly, "If that's what you want . . ."

"Ed."

He met her eyes a little diffidently. "Yes?"

"Here's the way it is, and the way it's going to be. You can propose all you want to me while I'm feeding you. It's expected. I'm going to make my mother's lasagna for dinner, so I thought you should know ahead of time that it's okay to propose again when you eat it."

"Oh, Tay!" he said, rolling his eyes in ecstasy. "Lasagna?"

"See? It's okay," she said with a grin. "But when you're serious about it, I want you in my bed – or me in yours – I'm not particular. But we need to be in bed. And there needs to be a ring."

He was grinning by the time she was finished. "It's a deal. Anything else, my love? Ermine? Mink? Stocks and bonds? Real estate?"

She shook her head. "All I want is you, Ed. That's all I've ever wanted."

"Me too," he said, kissing her hand. "Just you."

**Chapter 6**

"Hello, Ed."

"Hello, Virginia."

She searched his face for a moment before relaxing. "You understand, don't you? You get it now."

"Yes. I get it now."

She nodded. "I was afraid for a while there that you weren't ever going to understand. I'm glad you finally figured it out."

"So am I."

"No one will ever love you like me, Ed. You have no idea how patient I've been, trying to get you to see that. For so long, you treated me like I was just anybody."

"It was very foolish of me, I know. Will you forgive me?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Of course. How could I ever stay angry with you? I love you."

"I wish I was worthy of your love."

"You are," she said simply. "But you let yourself get sidetracked occasionally. You should never have gotten married, you know. Of course, you didn't know better. We hadn't met yet. But you still shouldn't have done it."

"I know. It was a mistake."

"Yes." She leaned forward across the table, eying him closely. "You really see that now, don't you? Oh, Ed! I'm so glad. If only you had seen it before it became necessary to get rid of her, it would have saved me a lot of trouble. But better late than never, as they say."

His hands clenched into fists under the table, but he kept his face bland with an effort. "You got rid of her? I didn't realize that."

She shook her head at him. "Well, you weren't supposed to know, of course. Although I always intended to tell you someday, when I was sure you'd understand."

"I do understand, Virginia. I promise you."

"Oh, Ed!" she said, smiling at him. "There's no one like you. Did you know that?"

"Nor like you, Virginia."

She blushed. "Thank you."

"What did you do?" he asked quietly. "I thought it was an accident."

"Oh, well. It was. That's the beauty of it, you see. I merely met with her for coffee – she was a real estate agent part time – and discussed buying a second home. It was really very easy. I just put a paralytic into her coffee. Slow-acting, of course, so that it wouldn't really hit until she was on the road. The rest I just left up to physics."

"That's . . . brilliant," he said in as natural a tone as he could manage.

She beamed at him. "Yes. I thought so. Then it was a simple matter to come visit you later that night when I knew you'd be needing me. And you did, Ed, didn't you? You did need me."

"Yes." He didn't know how much more of this he could take. But he had to finish it out. Her execution was already set. If he didn't get her to talk now, they might never know all that she had done. "I could not have made it through without you."

"I'll always be there for you. I do wish they hadn't stopped me before I could deal with the other one. The one that haunted your dreams. She should never have been allowed that much power over you. She made you weak."

"Yes. Yes, she did. I'm sorry."

"You even lied to me about her! Pretended you didn't know who she was. You shouldn't have done that, you know. It wasn't right. I only want what's best for you. But you eventually learned your lesson about her, didn't you? Women like that are poison. They'll eat you alive, then spit you out. Are your dreams more peaceful these days, Ed?"

"Yes, they are."

"Well, then. Maybe it wasn't necessary to get rid of her, after all. Especially if you see her now for what she is."

"I do, Virginia."

"You're such a wise man, Ed! Far beyond other lesser men. But then, you've always stood above the rest." She smiled at him quite happily for a while. Then she said sternly, "But you shouldn't have gone to her, you know. It's always a mistake to speak to them once you see them for what they are. Because their words can still twist you around."

"I'm sorry. Is that why you came? To warn me about her?"

"Yes. And to get rid of her once and for all, so that you could be free of her. Like you finally were of your wife. It was for the best. You see that now. Don't you?"

"Yes. How did you find her?"

"Oh!" she said with a laugh. "That was the easiest part! I simply waited until you located her, then followed you there. I didn't know her full name, you see. And no matter how vigorously I searched your past, I couldn't find anyone you worked with who had a name like that. So I had to wait for you to find her for me."

"I've always known you were an exceptional woman, Virginia."

She blushed again. "You'll tell them that, won't you, Ed? That I did it all for you? They'll understand if you explain it to them. Then we can go home. I still haven't chosen my dress for the wedding. There's so much to do, and I can't get any of it done from in here. But you'll take care of it for me, won't you?"

"Yes, of course." He stood up and walked stiffly to the door of the cell. But once its steel slid to behind him, he nearly buckled. Suddenly soft arms were around him, holding him up as she led him away from that place of horror. Bringing him eventually to a place of peace, where he could shut it all out for a while and rest.

"And to think all these years I thought you were just a naughty film producer!"

He grinned at her as she stood with her hands on her hips, looking around at the banks of computers and the operatives who manned them. "Sorry to disappoint you."

Taylor shook her head at him. "So. Where do you work?"

"Right this way." He led her to his office and enjoyed her amazed delight at his mural. As well as her surprise at seeing their old friend on the other wall.

"Oh, my God! Ed! It's that horrible painting from the Galleria!"

He couldn't seem to stop grinning at her. Every step she took in HQ seemed to blow away the tainted memory of Col. Lake, making everything clean once more. "Chaos," he said. "You know I had to have it."

"Why?"

He kissed her and said, "Because we'd never have met if you hadn't been looking at it that day and bumped into me."

She laughed at him, her dark eyes sparkling as she hugged him close. "You're such a sentimental fool!"

He nuzzled her neck. "Yes, I am. Is that a problem?"

"Not in the least," she said. "You forget. I'm Italian. I come from a long line of sentimental fools."

He met her mother, a tiny rotund lady who charmed him instantly by kissing both his cheeks and telling him he was a good boy for marrying her _bambina_.

But it wasn't until later that night when they were alone in the bedroom of her new flat that he actually had the chance to propose. The sheets were tangled from their lovemaking, and the pillows were on the floor, but they were in her bed as she had requested. And he had the ring. However, it now sat inside a blue satin box.

She'd been giggling as he kissed her fingers, because it tickled. But then he showed her the small box in his hand, and she fell silent, her eyes on his.

"Taylor Romano, would you do me the honor . . . ?" He trailed off and shook his head.

"What?" she said, terrified that he might somehow change his mind at the last moment.

But he said, "I need to say it right." And he looked deeply into her dark eyes and said, "Elizabeth Taylor Romano, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

"Damn it, Ed!" she said with a pout. "You promised never to say my full name!"

"Will you or won't you?" he demanded.

"Yes!" she said, throwing her arms around him, inadvertently knocking the ring box out of his hand and kissing him all over his face.

It was some time before the box was retrieved.


End file.
